Europe cannot in any shape or circumstances pull back on humanitarian aid into Gaza, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.
There can be no collective punishment, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. While Israel has a right to defend itself, it must be in accordance with international law, the Geneva Convention.
“And that means, in our view, that there cannot be collective punishment of the entire civilian population in Gaza. And also fundamentals like food, fuel, electricity must be allowed for the populace. Because there is nowhere to go.
“I do think in this country and elsewhere, we do really have to reflect on the enormity of the trauma and savagery that was visited upon the Israeli people and Israel, really do have to feel it in terms of the indiscriminate random murder of innocent civilians. And we just can't quickly move on from this. And there is a tendency to quickly move on from it.
“I just want to make that point because I'm a person who's had a consistent interest in the Middle East. And I was there recently. I've always argued with Israeli interlocutors, I always feel that their policies almost facilitated the hardliners to approach as opposed to the moderates, to emerge.
“But that said, what we witnessed was a jihadist pan-Islamic organisation, and there should be no truck with that.”
Mr Martin said he was also very worried about the potential for “regional implosion.”
“We're conscious of Hezbollah in Lebanon, we're conscious of the situation in the West Bank and the need for calm and control. And let's be frank, there is a malign influence regionally in terms of Iran's influence on the region and on organizations like Hamas.”
"In the immediate aftermath of an atrocity of this kind, it was important to take the time for a rational, medium term strategy to emerge, he added. There had been a significant deterioration in the situation, which was quite depressing, he said.
“There has to be ultimately a move to creating a political solution that enables people to live together in harmony in a very limited geographical space that is the Middle East.”
